Reemergence
by SnyperLady
Summary: Keith is in cryostasis. Can the team find the cure to the virus Maahox gave him and bring him back? Will he and Duvessa live "happily ever after"? Rated M because of possible adult themes and violence. (This is the 3rd story in the "series"...)
1. Chapter 1

_Ok, as promised...PART THREE of this series of mine and we're back to Duvessa and Keith being the mains, though it won't seem like it here in the beginning, but I've had these first bits in my head for awhile and am only just now committing them to "paper". I hope you enjoy it, because what is in my head...is EPIC!_

**I make no claims to Voltron or any WEP characters.**

_**Chapter One**  
_

_It was cold and dark. It had been for a while. And uncomfortable, unable to move. Trapped. Need out._

"_Duvessa!"_

Duvessa sat straight up in bed, panting and sweating. She sat there, panting for several minutes, looking around the room before she got up, took a shower and dressed. Picking up and putting on her crown and sliding her Voltcom onto her wrist, she made her way down to the Control Room.

Hunk sat quietly at the main computer, watching the radar and a crush car derby on a holomonitor. He looked over as Duvessa silently walked into the room, leaving the lights dim. He watched her walk over to where Keith lay beneath the floor in stasis and he frowned.

Duvessa stood there for a few minutes, staring at the floor.

A huge crash came from the derby Hunk was watching and he flinched, quickly muting it.

Duvessa jumped and spun. "Oh. Hunk. You scared me."

Hunk smiled. "Sorry, wasn't intentional. You all right, Vessa?"

She nodded. "Yes, I'm fine, thank you."

He leaned back in the holochair, lacing his fingers behind his head. "Vessa, of all the things you look like right now, fine isn't one of them." He frowned. "Well, you look nice, but…you know what I mean. Right?"

Duvessa bit her lip. "I just…had a strange dream, that's all. I needed to come down and check on…" She waved to the floor.

Hunk punched a button on the console and a monitor flashed to existence next to her. "He's fine. No change. And if there was, Gorma would be all over this room."

Duvessa looked over the readings, her eyes critical. "You're right, of course. I'm sorry…"

Hunk got to his feet and walked over to her, pulling her into a hug. "You don't have anything to be sorry for, Vessa. You're doing fine, he's…reasonably fine in there. And dreams, well," he paused. "Those happen. Sometimes they're your brain trying to tell you something, others not so much. They're working on a cure and as soon as they have one, he's going to wake up and you and him are going to live happily ever after."

Duvessa looked up at him, a funny look on her face.

"Well, you're a princess and that's what all princesses are supposed to have. A happily ever after," Hunk stated, color faintly staining his cheeks. "At least, that's what's supposed to happen…in Earth's fairy tales."

She smiled up at him. "Thank you, Hunk. I do appreciate you trying to cheer me up."

"Hey, it's what I do best! Are you hungry? I can go whip you up some breakfast if you'd like," he offered, pointing over his shoulder with his thumb.

She shook her head. "No, but thank you. I do appreciate it."

An alarm blared and they both turned to see a small fighter falling into Arus' atmosphere.

Hunk quickly moved back to the computer, hitting buttons. "That's not good. It's Polluxian."

Duvessa growled softly. "Pollux."

Hunk blinked. "Hey. Pollux is friendly now."

Duvessa looked at him, astonished. "Really?"

Hunk nodded, a meek grin on his face. "Distant cousins. So, reign it in?"

Duvessa frowned, but nodded. "I'll go see if I can bring them in safely," she stated and ran for Black Lion.

"I'm right behind you, Vessa!" Hunk stated and he ran for Yellow's chute, quickly disappearing down the zip line to the shuttle.

The two Lions streaked across the sky, intercepting the badly smoking ship.

"Polluxian craft, this is Yellow Lion, are you declaring an emergency?" Hunk radioed.

"Hunk!" cried a young male voice. "Yes! I could use some assistance. I was coming to give you and the Force some top secret information when I was ambushed by a Doom ship about three parsecs from here."

"Prince Bandor?" Hunk asked. "Yeah, all right. Let's get you safely on the ground. Do you have any control?"

"Negative," Bandor answered. "Frankly, I'm just glad I didn't skip off the atmosphere right now."

"Knew we'd be up here in minutes if you came in, huh?" Hunk laughed.

Bandor chuckled. "Yeah."

"Ok. Let's do this," Hunk stated and moved Yellow into position to help slow Bandor's shuttle.

Duvessa moved Black under the shuttle and Yellow, slowly easing the shuttle onto Black's back and bringing the shuttle down on a landing pad near the Castle.

Hunk hopped out of Yellow and moved towards Black and the shuttle.

Duvessa stood just outside Black as Hunk walked over.

"You all right, boss lady?" Hunk asked, concerned. "You've been quiet."

"Just…wasn't expecting Pollux to be a friendly," she stated. "It's a bit of a shock."

"They weren't back in the day?"

She shook her head. "Not even close," she admitted as a slim, red headed man walked out of the ruined shuttle towards them.

Bandor blinked as he got closer to Black and the two members of the Force waiting there. "Uh, Hunk? Where's Keith?"

Hunk chuckled nervously. "Well, he's…unavailable."

Bandor stared, shocked. "No… it's him?"

"What's him?" Hunk asked, innocently.

"The member of the Force who…I need to talk to Allura. It's urgent," Bandor stated, a desperate look on his face.

"Well, let's get inside then, but I would first like to introduce you to Princess Duvessa," Hunk stated, a meek grin at her as he held his hand out to her. "Vessa, this is Prince Bandor of Pollux."

Bandor stared in shock. "The Black Devil? Of legend?"

Duvessa blushed. "I prefer Duvessa," she stated. "And legend? What stories have been being told of me to make me such a devilish terror to the public?"

"I'm sorry, just…you're legendary, even on Pollux," he stated.

"Good legend or bad?" Hunk asked.

"Uh," Bandor stammered, looking at her. "Well, seeing as how Pollux used to be Arus' enemy…"

"Never mind. Forget I asked," Hunk stated. "Uh, this way, Bandor." He turned and led the others into the Castle.

* * *

"So, you see, Princess, there are conflicting reports that Arus is weak and Voltron is out of commission," Bandor stated, leaning forward on his elbows over the conference room table, his hands moving as he spoke.

"But, we're not," Vince piped.

"As I said, conflicting, because there are reports that Voltron has been seen fighting off various robeasts around the Denubian," Bandor stated. "They're confused."

"Well, we know the truth, but if it keeps Doom guessing, I'm all for it," Lance muttered, looking between Bandor and Allura.

"So, Bandor, what is the urgent matter that caused you to fly all the way here from Pollux?" Allura asked.

"Those same rumors that say Voltron is out of commission also tell of one of the pilots being either incapacitated or dead," Bandor answered. He glanced to Duvessa, who was pacing at the far end of the room, then to the vacant chair at the table. "And seeing as how Commander Keith isn't here, that one seems to be true to a point."

"He's not dead," Lance growled, a dark look on his face. "He's in cryostasis. Maahox hit him with some sort of virus that no one has ever seen before."

Bandor nodded, a thoughtful look on his own face. "Then this might be of interest to you," he stated and slid a chip from his data pad into a slot on the conference table. A holomonitor appeared above the flat surface.

Allura gasped, reading what was displayed. "There is a cure? Who has it?" she demanded, looking back to Bandor.

Bandor shook his head. "This doesn't say. My analysts back traced the signal. They think it's from Doom, but they're not sure."

"It's a trick. Maahox thinking we're desperate, so he'll trick us by saying he has the cure," Lance spat, turning his gaze to Allura.

Allura slowly nodded. "While that is possible, Lance, it could also be true. I mean, if you're going to create something like a virus that you could accidentally infect yourself with, sometimes you do create a cure just to be safe," she whispered. "That way you don't die, too."

"Yeah, but its Maahox and Lotor, sweetheart," Lance stated. "While they 'might' have a cure, they're not going to just hand it over because we asked nicely for it. They hate us. They're going to deny all of this."

"Maybe not," Bandor stated and pressed another button.

" 'Willing to exchange'," Pidge read. "For what?"

"Some Haggarium infused armor that apparently was 'left behind' on Arus a few months ago," Bandor answered.

"No. No way!" Lance declared and slapped his hand onto the tabletop. "I'm not willing to risk Keith's life on a cure that might not even be a cure for them to get back some of their toys so they can try to destroy us again. No way!"

Most of the eyes of the team were drawn to Duvessa, who was still silently pacing at the far end of the room.

"Duvessa?" Allura asked softly.

Duvessa stopped pacing and looked to the people gathered around the table. "I'm listening, Allura." She sighed. "If you're looking for my thoughts, I'm torn. While I agree with Lance, we shouldn't recklessly endanger Keith's life, but at the same time, he _**needs**_ that cure." She shook her head. "I don't like the thought of negotiating with Doom on any level, but if we can guarantee that it is a cure…"

"You can't be serious!" Lance declared, staring up at her in shock.

She held her hand up, stopping him. "Please, Lance. He's your friend and brother."

Lance sighed, shaking his head. "He wouldn't want us to do this. Even for him."

"I know, but if we don't have any other choice?" Duvessa asked, placing her hands on the table and looking at him.

Lance looked up at her. "He'd hate it. It would be like a knife in his gut…but he would do it if he had no other choice."

Duvessa looked at Allura. "If, and this is a big if, we do decide to negotiate with Doom for this cure, we're going to need to set stipulations."

Allura nodded. "What are you thinking?"

"We test a sample of this cure on Keith's blood. If it clears the infection, then we make the trade. If it doesn't, no deal," she stated.

"For the armor?" Pidge asked. "I was still running tests on it."

"Then you'd best run as many as you can while you still have it," Duvessa stated. "If Doctor Gorma or New Balto doesn't come through with a cure soon, we may not have a choice." She turned and left the room.

Lance looked at Allura, then followed Duvessa. "Vessa, wait up."

She stopped and turned. "Yes, Lance?"

"I'm sorry for…" He waved to the conference room.

"No. I understand your reasons and for the most part, I agree with them. But, Lance, he's been in there for six months now and they're no closer to a cure than when they first put him in there," she sighed and looked away, moving to the doors for the conference floor balcony and stepped outside.

Lance followed. "I know it's hard for you, but you've got to give them a chance to work this out."

She looked up at him. "Gorma says they've all but given up on ever finding the cure, Lance. They can't crack its DNA. It is like nothing they have ever seen before. Even the folks on New Balto are puzzled. They feel like they are inventing a new science trying to decipher it."

Lance watched her. "You were talking to Pidge and Gorma recently."

Duvessa nodded and looked out over the landscape. "Yesterday." She sighed. "I keep having these dreams of being cold and trapped with no way out. And then, I hear him calling my name like a desperate plea."

"Telepathic?"

She shook her head. "When Gorma gave him the sedative right before he was frozen, I lost him in my mind. I couldn't hear him at all. He was gone."

Lance sighed and leaned on the rail beside her. "Damn. You could have said something sooner. Allura might have…"

"Lance, you and her were newly married. I wasn't going to dump this on you two. I'm not that cruel," Duvessa answered. After a lengthy pause, she spoke again. "I don't want to negotiate with Doom unless we have no other choice, Lance. I'm not giving up hope that our people can find a cure. But, we need him back. I can't…I can't do this forever."

Lance nodded. "All right, Vessa. How long do we give them?"

"I don't know," she answered, a soft breeze stirring her long black hair. "I don't know."


	2. Chapter 2

**I make no claims to Voltron or any WEP characters.**

_**Chapter Two**_

"They still haven't called to try and negotiate with us. They can't possibly think that they can come up with a cure for the virus," Maahox muttered as he tinkered around his workshop on Planet Doom.

"They're fools, you of all people should know that, Maahox," Lotor muttered from his Haggarium bath. "And why did you put out that you wanted the armor back? You should have demanded the princesses. They're worth more."

"To you," Maahox muttered under his breath. "My Lord, that armor was a stunning new prototype which was working quite well until the Black Devil was able to bring you down with that well placed strike. It was in fairly good condition yet and I hated leaving it behind, but a retreat was in order. It had much potential."

Lotor sighed, guzzling the last of his drink. "Then, I suppose we must get it back. Why are you so willing to negotiate for it? You should just create a robeast and attack for it."

"My Lord, such a valued item to us would be locked away in one of their most secure vaults. Do you honestly believe they would leave it out where any of our soldiers would stumble upon it? No, they are not complete idiots, Sire. But, they do value the life of one of their own." He held up a vial of translucent blue liquid. "They will negotiate for this."

"Is that truly the cure for what you gave to Keith?" Lotor inquired as a slave girl refilled his glass.

"It is," Maahox admitted with a nod.

"Why can you not give them something and let them believe it is the cure?"

"My Lord, if it were them holding a cure for you, would you let go of something they desired without ensuring that you are getting what you are promised?"

"Hmm. You do have a point, Maahox," Lotor agreed. "But, we must not allow them to bring Keith back. They are weak without him."

"I wasn't planning on allowing them to escape with the cure, My Lord. You see, when they call, and they will call to negotiate, we will arrange to meet them on an isolated planet. Only two will be allowed to come. They will not bring the Lions because your Haggarium infused armor will affect them, so they will have to bring a Fractal. Once we have the armor, they will leave and your armada will ambush them, destroying two of their pilots and the cure!"

Lotor laughed. "That is absolute pure genius, Maahox!"

Maahox chuckled, rubbing his hands together before him. "Yes, My Lord. It absolutely is."

* * *

The rumors had spread. There was a cure out there, but it wasn't due to the hard work of the Baltans or Doctor Gorma's staff.

Pidge hated admitting defeat, especially on such a challenging puzzle. If there was one thing the Baltans enjoyed, it was a challenge, but there was a life on the line and breaking this puzzling virus just wasn't happening fast enough for him or for Keith. "He just can't stay in cryostasis forever while we puzzle this thing out. If we can get this cure, we could decipher it so much easier…" He sighed, then made his way to Lance's office, knocking lightly on the door.

"Come," came Lance's voice through the door.

Pidge opened the door and silently closed it behind him, moving to the desk, waiting silently before it.

Lance looked up. "Oh, hey, Pidge. Have a seat," Lance offered, waving to a chair.

Pidge nodded and sat. "Thank you, Lance."

Lance watched his younger teammate. "I don't like that look on your face."

"I don't like what has put it there," Pidge answered.

"The cure."

Pidge nodded. "My people have been working around the clock trying to crack this virus for months now, Lance. If there was a way to crack it, they would have found it by now."

"You think…"

"I don't want to believe it, but if that message from Maahox is true it would make creating more of the cure for ourselves and cracking this things DNA a lot easier," Pidge admitted.

"Pidge, Keith wouldn't want us to…"

"I know that, Lance. I don't want us to, either, but right now…" Pidge shook his head. "We don't really have a choice. Gorma says his vitals are slipping. Not by much, but they are still going down, even being in cryostasis. This virus is still alive in the cold. If we don't find something within a month…"

Lance leaned back on the back to legs of his chair, lacing his fingers behind his head. "We'll lose him."

Pidge nodded. "Yes. We can't afford that."

Lance thunked his chair back onto all four feet and stood, dropping his hands to his sides. "Well, then, let's go tell my wife and her aunt the good news, then."

Pidge looked up at him, puzzled as he got to his feet. "This isn't good news…"

"Sarcasm, Pidge. Sarcasm," Lance stated and led the way out of his office and down the hall to Allura's.

* * *

Allura looked up from a treaty that Coran had sent. Ever since Keith had been put into cryostasis, Duvessa hadn't returned to Earth to do the treaties, so Coran had stepped in, taking over the treaty talks. "I'm very glad Coran was able to get Alpha Centauri under penalties for what Randall did to us on my wedding night," she murmured.

"Yes, that was a stroke of diplomatic genius," Duvessa murmured, still looking over another treaty across the desk from her. She looked up. "Randall's father was furious at Randall's betrayal of the Alliance and accepted the sanctions and oversight with grace. So, it was only Randall, not the king himself."

Allura nodded. "I know. I've heard that they finally found Randall."

"Yes, according to the report, face down in the back alleys on Dradin, a knife in his back," Duvessa answered. "A very ironic turn of events there."

Allura smiled. "Very. Knifing his allies in the back by attempting to steal a princess only to get a knife in the back himself, literally." She looked to the door as someone knocked. "Come in."

Lance and Pidge walked in.

Lance smiled. "Hi, beautiful. Busy?" he asked as the two walked closer.

"Treaties can wait a few minutes for you, love," she answered. She noted Pidge's expression. "What's up?"

Pidge sighed. "I don't know if you've heard, but Doctor Gorma is growing more concerned with Keith's condition."

Duvessa set the treaty down in her lap. "His vitals are coming down, very minimal drops, but lowering all the same," she murmured.

Pidge nodded. "Yes. And his staff and my own people cannot seem to crack this virus that he has. Perhaps if we were to get this cure, ensure that is really is what Maahox claims, we might be able to reverse engineer it and crack this thing's code."

Duvessa sighed. "Our worst fears realized," she stated softly. "Maahox is wanting that armor he and Lotor left behind that you've been studying. What is so important about it?" she asked, looking to Pidge.

"From what I've been able to gather, it was a prototype. A lot of experimental systems went into it, nothing Doom has ever tried using before. And along with the Haggarium used to power it…" Pidge shrugged. "I can see why Maahox is eager to get his hands back on it."

"Well, I, for one, don't think we should give it back to him," Lance stated, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Lance, it's either give them the armor or Duvessa and myself, you know how Lotor works," Allura stated. "And you're a jealous man, you don't share."

"Damn right, I don't," Lance agreed. "But, I do see your point."

"None of us like this deal," Duvessa conceded. "But, Keith's life is in danger, can we honestly sit back and…" She choked on the words briefly. "Watch him die?"

"No, that's not an option, either," Lance snarled, starting to pace. "Dammit!"

"Then, it seems, we don't have a choice," Pidge stated sadly, shaking his head. "I can crate up the armor tonight, but we can't send it in the Lions. It will have to be transported by Fractal. The Haggarium still messes with the Lions pretty bad."

Duvessa nodded. "I'll go in the Fractal. Pidge, if you can show me how to test the cure to make sure it is what it is supposed to be…"

"You're not going alone," Lance growled. "Keith would kill me if I let you go alone."

Duvessa looked at him, nodding. "Very well, if they will allow it. But, you listen to me, Lance. Anything happens, you make sure you get back here to Allura. Arus will need an heir if something goes wrong."

Lance blinked, shocked, then looked to Allura. "Good grief, why do I keep forgetting the two of you are…"

"Princesses? It would be good if you eventually figured that out, love," Allura teased with a grin.

Pidge snickered.

Lance shot him a dark look.

Pidge cleared his throat. "So, Duvessa, if in an hour or so, come down to my workshop and I'll show you how to run the tests and stuff…"

Duvessa nodded. "I will be there," she assured him.

Pidge nodded back, then nodded to Lance and Allura, turning and leaving the office.

Lance sighed, running his hand over his face. "I can't believe we're actually going to do this," he muttered. "Ok. I'll go to Control and send the message. I'll let you know what they say." He turned and left the office.

Duvessa sighed and looked back to Allura. "I really don't like this."

Allura nodded. "I don't either, but, honestly, what choice do we have?"

"That's the problem. We don't have one. I wish we did," Duvessa whispered and looked back to the treaty on her lap sadly.

* * *

"It's about time," Maahox murmured, reading the transmission from Arus. "Took you long enough to realize that my blending of viruses wasn't going to be easy to crack." He sent his well worded reply to Arus, then sent a message to Lotor. "My Lord, they have finally come to the realization that their science is no match for mine. I'm sending our reply, I would advise you to prepare your armada for immediate departure."

"Very well, Maahox. Be ready within the hour."

"I will be, My Lord," Maahox assured him and cut the channel. "I will be."


	3. Chapter 3

**I make no claims to Voltron or any WEP characters.**

_**Chapter Three**_

Lance sat in the pilot's seat of the Fractal doing his pre-flight checks. "God, I hate these things. It's no Lion…"

Duvessa giggled as she dropped into the co-pilot's seat. "No, certainly not a Lion, but much nicer than what I grew up flying," she agreed, turning to face the controls before her.

"Pidge done loading back there?" he asked, glancing over at her.

"Yes. And the test kit with samples of Keith's blood is safely stowed in the cold locker," she answered. She did a quick check on her controls and nodded. "I'm all set here, Lance."

"All right," he stated and smoothly launched the Fractal, taking them up out of the atmosphere swiftly. "So, what do we know about this planet we're meeting them on?"

"Cor'dada. It's an isolated planet, no known life forms. It could support life, but for some reason the planet is nothing but forests. From what I've read the Alliance has deemed it a sanctuary, to preserve it," Duvessa answered.

"Great. Means they might try to ambush us," Lance muttered.

"I know," Duvessa murmured, her hands stilling on the console before her. "There's a lot at risk here. Our lives. Keith's life. Whether this is really a cure or not. So much could go wrong, Lance." She turned her worried blue eyes towards him.

"Well, we've got our Voltcoms and I packed a couple extra blasters because of that crappy purple shit back in the back," he stated. He glanced over at her and smiled. "We'll be all right, Vessa."

Duvessa shook her head, a slight smile on her face. "Your use of foul language doesn't add up to the image of your typical prince, Lance."

Lance laughed at that, shaking his head. "Well, I'm not your typical prince," he agreed. "All right, course laid in. Cor'dada, here we come."

Duvessa relaxed into her seat as the drive engaged, knowing that this would be the easiest part of this mission.

* * *

Cor'dada shined like a massive blue and green jewel in the star system it orbited.

Duvessa carefully ran scan after scan. "Nothing. Only one ship orbiting the planet and it's one of Lotor's smaller transports." She looked back to the main view screen. "I hate to say this, Lance, but…it looks like it will be an honest trade off."

Lance shook his head. "Something still feels fishy to me, Vessa. This is too easy. Too smooth. Too…not dangerous."

She nodded in agreement. "I know. Let's keep our eyes and ears open for anything."

He nodded and moved the Fractal in to orbit the planet, awaiting further instructions from Lotor's ship.

* * *

"My Lord, they have arrived," Maahox radioed to Lotor's command ship, as the ship's systems indicated another ship entering orbit.

"About time," Lotor muttered. "Send them the landing instructions and then get on the ground to greet them. Once they're leaving, radio me to intercept."

"As you wish, My Lord," Maahox replied, sending the Fractal a set of coordinates on the planet's surface and then setting his own ship on a course to land.

* * *

"Well, here we go," Lance muttered as the coordinates locked into the computer and he began their decent into the atmosphere.

"My stomach is in knots," Duvessa whispered.

"Mine, too. And I know it isn't because of the food Hunk packed. He knows better than to give any of us food poisoning," Lance joked. He grimaced. "Sorry, I know that was bad…"

She grinned slightly. "I know. You were just trying to ease the tension a little."

Lance nodded. "Trying, but failing."

"Well, all things considered, it was a good attempt."

He chuckled. "Let's get this over with, shall we? Get your man back and get on with our lives," he muttered.

"That sounds like an excellent idea," she agreed.

They were silent the rest of the way down to the planet's surface.

* * *

"Welcome, our honored guests," Maahox purred as Lance and Duvessa exited the Fractal. "My what a pleasure it is to see the two of you."

Duvessa squared her shoulders, her chin high as she and Lance moved closer. She switched the test kit from one hand to the other nervously.

"You did bring my armor, yes?" Maahox asked.

"It's in the ship," Lance answered, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Ah. May I see it?"

Lance pushed a button on his Voltcom and the loading hatch on the Fractal opened, revealing the crates. "It's all there."

"Undamaged?"

"Undamaged," Lance affirmed with a nod. "Can we get on with this?"

"I'm guessing you're wanting to test the cure?" Maahox purred.

Duvessa nodded.

"This way," Maahox stated, waving towards a small table he had set up. He moved towards it.

Duvessa glanced up at Lance, who nodded and they slowly followed him.

"Oh, relax, you two. Nothing is going to happen here," Maahox assured them. "That armor and this cure is far too valuable for me to allow anything to transpire here."

"That's…reassuring," Lance muttered.

"Indeed it should be," Maahox answered, stopping on the far side of the table.

Duvessa set the kit on the table, opened it and pulled out the small vial of blood and the test reader.

Maahox carefully dispensed some of the cure and held it out to Duvessa, who held open the vial. He poured it into the blood and Duvessa closed the lid, gently shaking it. "It shouldn't take very long for you to see results," Maahox assured her. "Especially in that small of an amount."

Duvessa nodded and slipped the vial into the test reader and turned it on. The reader beeped as the test ran and the results appeared quickly after that. She nodded and looked to Lance. "It's the real thing," she whispered. "It will cure him."

Lance nodded. "Then let's get the Fractal unloaded," he stated.

Duvessa put the reader back into the kit, closed it and followed Lance to the Fractal. She put the kit away and quickly moved to help Lance unload the armor on it's hovercart.

They pushed the cart over to where Maahox stood, the vial of cure in his hand. "As promised," Duvessa stated. "All 112 pieces of armor."

"Oh, very good, you counted them," Maahox laughed. He held out the vial to her, smiling as she took it and held it carefully. "I do hope you have a very safe journey back to Arus," he purred. He took the cart and pushed it over to his ship.

Duvessa looked up at Lance.

"Get to the ship, get that stowed safely, start pre-flight," Lance whispered. "I'm going to follow, but watching for an ambush. I don't have a good feeling."

"Be careful," she answered. Then she turned and headed for the Fractal.

Lance slowly backed towards the Fractal, his eyes on the forests around them.

Duvessa stowed the cure in a suspension chamber. "We'll get you back, Keith. I promise," she whispered. She then moved to the cockpit, sitting in the co-pilot's chair, quickly running through the pre-flight checks.

Lance boarded, closing the hatch and quickly getting to the cockpit. "Ok, I'm really worried. There really is nothing out there, but Maahox and his ship."

She looked at him, concern in her eyes. "An honest exchange? For the real cure? This isn't like Doom."

"No, it's not. And we're vulnerable in this Fractal," Lance answered. "Good thing Hunk doctored the engines on it. She'll get us out of here in a hurry."

Duvessa frowned. "You don't think they'll ambush us on the way back to Arus, do you?"

Lance's blood froze at her words. "Shit, Vessa, they just might. Hang on tight. We're launching and I'm going to plot a roundabout course. It will take us longer to get back, but…"

Duvessa nodded. "I trust your instincts as much as Keith's," she answered. "Just let me know if I need to do anything."

Lance nodded and sent the Fractal rocketing into the atmosphere.

* * *

Maahox smiled as he watched the Fractal leave the planet. He radioed up to the command ship. "My Lord, they have just launched from the planet. You may fire at will," he laughed.

"Very good, Maahox. We will see you back on Doom," Lotor assured him.

Maahox launched and plotted a course straight for Doom and his workshop.

* * *

"Is it me, or did that seem way too easy?" Duvessa asked softly, watching her controls.

"It was too easy," Lance agreed. "And…I see why," he murmured.

Duvessa looked up and paled. "Oh, Gods…"

"Hang on, Vessa. This is going to get ugly fast," he muttered.

Duvessa punched in a quick message to Arus, letting them know they were being attacked by Lotor's armada. "I'm sending a signal to Arus. Maybe they can save us."

"If we're lucky and that signal gets through. I hope they're not jamming us," Lance stated and began evasive maneuvers as small fighters began engaging them.

Duvessa brought what few weapon systems the Fractal had online and began to pinpoint targets.

Lance grinned as a series of red dots began to appear on the main screen. "Reading my mind, Vessa?"

"Not really. Just what I would do in your place," she answered. "Weapons are activated."

Lance nodded and fired, taking out one of the nearest fighters. "What are our shields at?"

"Eighty percent and falling. We need to get out of here if we can," she answered as the ship rocked from a heavy blast.

"Yeah. I'm working on that," Lance quipped and aimed for some open space between a couple of fighters.

Another blast rocked the ship. "Fifty!" Duvessa stated. She looked to Lance, a feeling of dread knotting her stomach.

Lance made it past the fighters and into open space and gunned the engines. "Can you see if you can boost the shields?"

"You want shields or speed, I don't think I can give you both," she stated, her fingers flying over the console.

"Try to give me as much of both as you can," Lance answered. "Damn it, more are launching. We need to get the hell out of this system."

Duvessa punched a couple more buttons. "That's everything," she stated.

They managed to put some space between them and the fighters, and were almost out of the system when Lotor's command ship loomed up before them.

"Oh, hell," Lance muttered and took evasive action, forcing the Fractal closer to the outer most inhabited planet in the system.

Duvessa was out of her seat in an instant, moving back and ripping the cover off one of the power relay access points. She started what repairs she could to the fried systems and bypassing the ones she couldn't repair.

Lance grinned as more power went into the shields and engines, but he knew it was only a matter of time.

A massive blast jolted the shuttle and Duvessa hit the bulkhead hard. "Damn it," she muttered, shoving away from the wall and back to what she was doing.

Another blast rocked the ship and Lance cursed. "Hang on back there! We're going down on this planet!" he yelled as the Fractal entered the atmosphere.

Plasma burst from a conduit, slamming Duvessa into the bulkhead again, knocking her unconscious and to the floor.

Lance looked back. "Vessa? Shit," he muttered and focused on guiding the craft into the atmosphere. "Lotor wants us dead? Let's see if he believes this," he snarled and jettisoned some plasma, letting it explode behind the Fractal. He guided the Fractal down as carefully as he could, but it was still a very hard landing and he slammed his arm into the bulkhead and felt a sickening snap there as the ship came to a stop in a dense pine forest. "Damn it, not again," he muttered, tucking his arm close to his chest. He carefully climbed out of his seat and made his way back to Duvessa, checking her pulse and her head injury. He grabbed the medkit and tended to her wound before making a makeshift sling for his own arm. He sighed and looked around the ship. "We can't stay here. If my little light show didn't fool them, we need to get out of here."

Duvessa groaned softly and Lance knelt down beside her. "Vessa?"

"Lance? What…happened?" she asked, her blue eyes slowly opening.

"We crash landed," Lance stated. "Look, I tried to fool Lotor with an explosion before we landed, but he might not believe it, so we need to get out of here. Can you get up?"

Duvessa tried to sit up. "Oh, Goddess," she moaned, rolled away from him and put her head back on the floor. "Oh, I'm going to be sick."

Lance frowned. "Oh, crap, please don't have a concussion."

"What…is a concussion?"

"Head injury. A bad one that makes you feel sick, dizzy, and your eyesight blurry."

Duvessa slowly nodded. "I've got all three."

"Shit," Lance muttered. He looked around the ship, got up, grabbed a couple of bags, stuffed one with food, the other with the medkit, the cure, and emergency shelter. He slung them over his bad arm and head, then reached down, pulling her up. "We've got to move, Vessa, so you're going to have to suck it up."

She leaned heavily on him, but she nodded. "I'll do my best, Lance," she panted.

"Good," he stated and opened the hatch, stepping out into the cold. "Good grief, winter is here." His Voltcom produced his armor.

Duvessa's armor flashed into existence. "We will need to find shelter soon," she whispered. "We don't need to overtax our Voltcoms. We may need them."

"Yeah, I still have the blaster on me. You?"

She nodded. "Yes. I think."

"Good, then we can use that, too. Let's get moving," he stated and they started off through the snowy forest.

* * *

They had walked a few hours before they found a sheltered area where they wouldn't be easily spotted from above or from the ground. Two sides of the area were rock faces, the rest thick trees. Lance helped her lean against a tree, then dropped the bags beside her. "I'm going to get the shelter set up. Can you find wood for a fire?"

"Will it draw them to us?" Duvessa asked.

"I hope not. I think we're far enough away, but either way, we need to stay warm. Find the wood," Lance answered.

She nodded carefully and moved to the thick trees, hoping to find some dry branches and wood for the fire.

Lance pulled the shelter out, set it on the ground and started setting it up. It was slow going with only one arm.

Twenty minutes later, Lance had the shelter up and Duvessa had a decent supply of wood stacked.

"Ok. I'm going to start this fire. I want you to get those bags into the shelter and keep this going. Don't fall asleep, but stay warm and out of sight," Lance instructed.

She looked up at him. "What?"

"I'm going back to the ship, grab a few more things if I can," Lance stated.

"But, it's almost dark," she argued.

"Yeah, and I have a feeling it will start snowing, which will hide our tracks, but I need to go grab some more stuff and I can move a lot faster than you can right now," he stated, piling up some wood and setting it ablaze with his Hot Hands.

"But, you can't bring back a lot because of your broken arm," she insisted.

"I know, but it's going to get cold and if I can get us a few creature comforts that will keep us alive and warm, I'll do it. Keep that cure safe, Vessa," Lance ordered, getting back to his feet.

She nodded. "Hurry back and be careful."

He grinned. "Trust me, I'll be back before you know it," he answered and disappeared into the growing dusk.

She watched him go, the sounds of the forest seemingly loud in his absence.


	4. Chapter 4

_A little shorter, but I seem to be on a roll when the muse strikes, so pretty good thing. I really got lucky to find a spot to put this whole survival scene in. It's a lot shorter than I thought it would be, but that's ok. I hope you enjoy!_

**I make no claims to Voltron or any WEP characters.**

_**Chapter Four**_

Hours later, Lance finally caught sight of the fire, it was growing low, but it was a welcome sight. He continued to drag the cargo net full of whatever gear he thought could be useful into the area by the shelter.

"Vessa?" he called softly, so not to startle her. He frowned when she didn't answer. He let go of the cargo net and pulled his blaster, not wanting to call his magma pistol, wanting to conserve what he could of his Voltcom's power. He checked the area, then made his way to the shelter, tossing open the door flap. He sighed and lowered his weapon, seeing her sitting on the medkit, the cure in her hands, asleep against the side of the shelter. He shook his head. "I told you not to fall asleep," he muttered. He holstered the blaster, went back outside and put more wood on the fire, before bringing the supplies into the shelter. He walked over to her and gently shook her. "Vessa, wake up."

Vessa jerked and opened her eyes. "Lance?" she asked, looking up at him.

He squatted down in front of her and held up two fingers. "How many fingers?"

She blinked in confusion. "Three," she answered.

He sighed. "Damn, it's a bad one," he muttered. "How long have you been asleep?"

"I…I don't know," she answered. "I put some more wood on the fire and came in here to get out of the wind."

"Hmm. From the looks of the fire, you've probably been in here for about an hour or two," he stated, shaking his head. "Ok, you just sit tight there while I unload the seats, then you can get a little more comfortable."

"Seats?"

"Yeah, figured if we're going to be here awhile, we wouldn't want to be on the ground. And from what I could scan with the Fractal's last bits of power, Lotor is long gone. He bought the lightshow," Lance told her.

She shook her head. "I have no clue what you're talking about," she mumbled.

Lance grimaced. "Yeah, you've got a bad concussion. Just stay put, Vessa."

She nodded and leaned back against the side of the shelter again. "Okay."

Lance got up and unhooked the cargo net straps, pulling out a pair of seats, another box of emergency rations, a large jug of water, and a couple of small pillows and fleece blankets.

Duvessa blinked at the pillows and blankets. "Did you pack for a camping trip?"

Lance laughed. "No. Keep them in the ship for long flights. Creature comforts for passengers and stuff."

"Oh, I didn't know that," she murmured.

He smiled at her. "Keep talking to me, Vessa. It will help you stay awake."

"I will try," she assured him. "It's just so cold and my head hurts."

"I know, but if your concussion is as bad as I think it is, you need to." He grabbed a small penlight out of another case he brought along and shined it on her.

She flinched and looked away.

"Damn, you've got one hell of a goose egg on your head and it is bruised pretty good," he stated. "I'm impressed your crown stayed on your head during that landing."

She reached up and pulled it off. "It…has a mind of its own sometimes or so it seems," she stated. "There is a mystical side to it that even I don't quite fully understand."

Lance held his hand up, having put the penlight away. "I don't need a history lesson, Vessa."

"You wanted me to talk…"

"Anything but that," he stated. "And not your love life, either."

She smiled faintly at that as she put her crown back on her head. "Mine is non-existent at the moment. Kind of why we were on this…how did Hunk say this that one time? Boxed up mission?"

Lance chuckled. "Close. Botched."

"I swear I am never going to get all these slang words everyone has come up with in the last five hundred years," she muttered.

"Yeah, there's been a lot in that time. So, you want to get off the medkit and get a bit more comfortable on the seat?"

She slowly nodded and rolled to her knees, crawling over to the seat, pulling herself up into it. "It's not exactly…stable," she stated as it rocked a bit as she sat in it.

"Well, it was a quick hack job," Lance confessed. He handed her a pillow and a couple of the fleece blankets. "They're not much, but it's better than freezing."

"At least we are out of the weather and wind in here," she stated. "And you found a good spot, defended on two sides, hidden on the others."

"Yeah, I just hope rescue comes soon," Lance agreed, setting his chair up to face hers, then pulling the medkit between them, flipping it open and finding the pain killers. He pulled them out, handed her one, took one himself. "I'm going to go back out here in a minute. Put some rocks around the fire, heat them up and before we go to sleep, we can bring them inside here and warm it up."

"Sounds good," she murmured. "And then we can have tea and cake and call it a night, right?"

Lance laughed. "Sure thing, Vessa."

Vessa slid the cure into the medkit and Lance closed it up. "We need to get home," she whispered.

"I know," he agreed, his smile fading. "We will get home and we will get him back. I promise you that."

She nodded and he got to his feet to find some rocks to heat.

**Xxxxxx**

Lance carefully carried in one of the last stones and he could tell his idea with the rocks was working, it was actually comfortable in the shelter. He set the stone down near the others in the center of the room and then dropped down into the other seat he'd dragged. It had started snowing quite heavily in the last hour, so he knew their tracks to and from the Fractal would be hidden. A good thing if the Drules found the ship, but not so much if the Force came to find them. He pulled the medkit closer, flipped it open and pulled out the pain killers, taking one.

"Arm still hurting?" Duvessa whispered from her seat, her eyes closed.

"Like a mother," Lance stated. "How's your head?"

"Like there is an entire orchestral percussion section in it. I move and I get nauseous," she stated. "And I'm glad it's pretty dark in here, too."

"Well, these rocks will help keep us warm tonight. I put some more in the fire and wood, too, so we do have that going for us," Lance stated.

"Thank you, Lance. I'm sorry I'm not much more help right now," she murmured.

"Hey, you have a pretty big bump on your head, I think I can give you a pass. I'd rather you stay put and not get hurt more," he stated.

"Yeah," she agreed. She was quite for a few minutes, making Lance think she'd fallen back to sleep until she spoke again. "Lance, what all will happen once we get the cure back to Arus?"

Lance sighed, leaning back in the seat, putting the small pillow under his broken arm. "Well, we will be getting checked out, for one," he stated with a chuckle.

She smiled slightly. "Obviously."

"But, I imagine Gorma will run the test again. Pidge will want a sample so he and the folks on New Balto can try to reverse engineer the cure and virus so if it were to be used again or spread, they could counter it," Lance stated.

"And to think that there are those on Arus who believe you are not intelligent or worthy of Allura," she muttered. "You hide who and what you really are well, Lance."

"Well, don't let it get around that I'm smarter than I look. I have a reputation to uphold," he joked.

"It doesn't suit you anymore," she whispered. "Your playboy, rogue routine."

Lance grinned and shook his head. "Well, it isn't really a routine, Vessa. It's…me."

She sighed. "If you say so. I don't believe it."

Lance chuckled. "Allura sees through it, too, but it keeps some folks that I don't like to deal with at bay, so, it works for me."

"But, you could become king…you wouldn't have much choice, but to deal with some folks that you don't exactly like…"

"Vessa, don't remind me, please?" he begged.

"But…"

"Vessa, I'm going to be honest here. I really hope you and Allura work out some sort of plan that keeps me from becoming king. I mean, realistically, you will probably take the throne." He held his hand up, stopping her. "Allura's been researching it. The Black Crown is still the higher crown and can claim the throne. The laws were even changed to allow you to resume your place in line. Your brother and father saw to that." He smiled. "Besides, Keith would make the better king anyway."

"But, Allura and my brother's descendants have ruled for centuries…I can't just come in and take it all away from them," Duvessa protested.

"Honestly, I think Allura would be relieved if you took it from her. She would like nothing more than to be an average citizen of Arus sometimes," Lance stated.

Duvessa opened her eyes and stared over at him. "I hit my head too hard."

Lance chuckled. "No, you're hearing me right, Vessa. Try to get some rest now. I'll wake you up in a couple hours to check on your head."

She nodded and closed her eyes as Lance set an alarm on his Voltcom, then he settled in to get some rest, too.

**Xxxxxx**

Hunk flew low over the one section of forest where he saw some smoke rising. He grinned as he finally got answering pings from their Voltcoms. "Pidge. Princess, I've found them. They're a good five clicks from the Fractal, but if the smoke I'm seeing is any indicator, they're alive. I'm going to set down and go see if they're ready to come home."

"Good job, Hunk. Thank the gods they're alive," Allura whispered. "We'll be there in a few minutes."

"Roger that," Hunk stated and set Yellow Lion down in a semi-large clearing nearby and climbed out, making his way towards the smoke and the Voltcom signals.

**Xxxxxx**

"Lance? Vessa?" Hunk called as he got closer. "Guys?"

Lance stepped out of the shelter. "Hunk?"

Hunk laughed as he saw Lance. "Hey, nice cozy spot you two found." He stopped seeing Lance's bandaged arm. "That the worst of that crash you did?"

Lance shook his head. "No. Vessa has a nasty concussion. She's been getting sick all morning. We've got to get her back to Arus soon."

Hunk grimaced and his armor flashed over his uniform. "I'll get her. You get the cure and we'll get the hell out of here."

Lance nodded and walked into the shelter, going over to the medkit and picking up the cure. "Hey, Vessa, look. Our ride home has arrived."

Duvessa groaned, her eyes opening slightly. "Hi," she whispered.

Hunk shot Lance a nervous look. "She doesn't look so good, Lance."

"I know," Lance agreed. "I've got this. Get her and we'll get off this rock."

Hunk nodded and gently picked Duvessa up. "Hold on, Vessa. We'll get you home and Doc Gorma will get you feeling better in no time," he assured her.

Duvessa laid her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes.

Soon, they were back to Yellow Lion and they took off for Arus.

**Xxxxxx**

Duvessa opened her eyes. Her head felt somewhat better as she looked around the dim, sterile room she was in.

"Hey," came a soft voice from beside her. "How are you feeling?"

Duvessa turned her head and saw Allura sitting next to her. "Better. I think," she murmured. "How's Lance's arm?"

"Broken," Allura answered. "He's been released. You, on the other hand, might be in here for a while."

"How long is a while?"

"At least overnight," Doctor Gorma stated from the doorway. "How are you feeling, Princess?"

"Better," Duvessa answered. "I don't feel dizzy or like I'm going to be ill."

"That's good. Any blurriness in your vision?"

"Not at the moment," she answered. "How soon will you bring Keith out of cryostasis?"

"As soon as Pidge is sure the cure won't have any lasting side effects," Gorma answered. "Reverse engineering this cure and virus is…well, it will take everyone some time."

Duvessa nodded, her eyes drooping again.

Allura stood and pulled the blankets up over Duvessa. "Get some more rest, Vessa. We won't bring him around until you're there."

Duvessa nodded and fell back to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

_I've been doing some beta'ing for some folks, so my own work was falling behind, but I did get this together amid this crazy baseball/softball season. Enjoy!_

**I make no claims to Voltron or any WEP characters.**

"Got it!" Pidge cried triumphantly as he ran into Control a week later. "We've reverse engineered it. The cure is safe to use."

Allura and Duvessa looked at each other. "Have you talked to Doctor Gorma?" Allura asked, looking back to Pidge.

Pidge nodded. "He's double checking, but I know he's not going to find anything wrong with my findings. I'm sure he'll be back with us within a few days."

"And his memories?" Duvessa asked softly.

Pidge grimaced, his cheerful mood evaporating quickly. "That is the only mystery left, Vessa. No one knows if his memory will have been affected, and if it was, how much. We won't know that until he's awake."

She nodded. "Then, let's hope for the best, yes?"

Pidge nodded back. "Yes."

"Good. I can't wait to have our fearless leader back with us. No offense, Vessa," Lance stated.

She grinned. "I know. I'm not Keith, just a fair substitute."

"More than fair, in my opinion," Hunk stated, looking over from a schematic of his most recent Lion upgrade.

"Well, don't get me wrong, I enjoy flying Black, but…he's Keith's Lion now and he needs to be flying him again," Duvessa confessed. "I'm a little…too old to be flying him."

The team laughed. "Vessa, you may be over 500 years old, but really, you're only about the age you were when you were put into stasis," Pidge assured her with a smile.

"That may be, but with so much having changed over the years, I feel those years," she answered.

"All right. Pidge, about how long until Doc Gorma finishes looking over your work?" Lance quizzed.

"Probably an hour or two," Pidge replied. "Three at the most. Then, he'll send the codes to unthaw Keith and he will have a med team down here ready to move him to MedTech soon after that."

"Great. Hurry up and wait," Lance murmured. "Why I love this job."

Allura smacked his arm gently. "You love your job for more than hurry up and wait."

Lance just grinned at her.

* * *

An hour or so later, a medical team led by Doctor Gorma entered the Control Room.

The team stood as the medical personnel walked over to the cryostasis unit and Gorma paused by the Force.

"I'm sure that Pidge has told you all the good news," Gorma stated. "It will take about ten minutes for Keith to emerge from the ice, but he most likely won't regain consciousness until sometime tomorrow."

Allura nodded as Lance slid his arm across her shoulders. "This is such good news, Doctor."

"I'm just glad that Keith will survive," Gorma stated. "Though, as I'm sure you all recall, there is still concern about his memory. The virus was aggressive and may have damaged bits of his short term and long term memory."

"Which is why we had him record as much as we could onto his Voltcom," Lance agreed with a nod.

"Yes," Gorma agreed with a nod. "I'm hoping that it isn't too extensive. I'll be able to tell how much damage was done once I get him to MedTech and run some scans."

Duvessa stood near Allura and Lance, her arms crossed over her chest, listening intently, but still able to see the medical team standing around, waiting for Keith to emerge.

"He will need all of your support if his memory has been affected," Gorma was saying.

"Oh, he'll get it. Lots of it," Lance assured him with a grin.

Gorma smiled at that. "I figured as much. Now, if you will excuse me," he murmured and made his way over to his staff.

The Force watched in silence as Keith finally emerged.

Duvessa gasped softly seeing him lifted onto the gurney. "He's so pale," she whispered.

Allura stepped out of Lance's embrace and walked to her aunt, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder. "He'll be all right. You'll see."

"I know," Duvessa whispered, tears sparkling in her eyes. "I just…Gods, I've missed seeing him."

Lance moved over to them. "I just hope he doesn't kill us all for what we had to do to get the cure for him," Lance murmured as the medical team hooked up various instruments, checking his vitals.

"He won't. He'll be thankful we were able to save his life," Allura stated.

"All right. Let's get him down to MedTech," Gorma ordered and the medical team wheeled him out of the Control Room.

Hunk and Pidge were whispering with the cadets near the main computer. They all nodded in agreement and turned as one to face Lance, Allura and Duvessa. "Hey, uh, we volunteer to man radar and patrols tonight," Hunk stated. "We'll do that and you three can go sit with Keith."

"Are you sure?" Lance asked.

"Yes, Lance. Just when he wakes up, let him know we're all glad that he's back with us," Pidge stated.

"Thank you. All of you," Duvessa murmured.

Pidge nodded, then turned back to the cadets, giving them their patrol or radar duty assignments as Lance, Allura and Duvessa followed the medical team down to MedTech.

* * *

Gorma walked into the waiting room where Lance, Allura and Duvessa sat. "Princesses. Commander."

The three stood as Gorma stopped before them.

"The good news is, he is fully cured. We gave the injection and as we were scanning him, was able to watch the virus be destroyed. He will survive."

Lance smiled. "Always good to hear."

Gorma nodded. "Yes. However, the virus did quite a bit of damage to the area of his brain that controls memory functions. I'm not sure exactly how much, but it is going to be difficult for him when he first wakes. You will probably want to be with him when he wakes."

"We were planning on that, Doctor," Allura agreed.

"Yes. I must urge you all to be careful and take it easy on him when he first wakes. He will most likely be extremely disoriented and will need a few minutes to get his bearings back," Gorma instructed. "I am recommending that he not be on flight status until we determine exactly how much memory has been lost."

Duvessa sighed, but nodded. "I guess I won't be turning Black over to him right away, then."

Gorma shook his head. "I wouldn't recommend it, Princess. I'm thinking at least two weeks of being grounded. And if he can resume flight status after that, it be supervised."

Lance grimaced, but nodded. "All right. Can we see him?"

Gorma nodded and led them back to Keith's room. "I've already had the staff bring in recliners so you can rest in the room with him. If you need blankets or anything, just ask," he stated as he waved into the room.

"Thank you for everything, Doctor," Allura murmured with a warm smile.

Gorma nodded, then moved off to the nurses' station to do some charting.

The three entered the room and stood silently around Keith's bed, watching him.

"We're here, buddy," Lance whispered. "I hope you remember something about all of us."

* * *

Keith moaned softly before his blue eyes fluttered open. The room was dark and he could smell the antiseptic. "MedTech," he whispered.

Lance turned and faced the bed, a smile on his face. "Hey, buddy," he whispered softly. "How are you feeling?"

"I feel like shit, Lance," Keith murmured. "How hard did I hit the ground after taking that robeast's head off? Pretty hard since I'm in MedTech, right?"

Lance blinked, his smile faltering a bit. "Taking the robeast's head off…" He nodded. "Oh, yeah. That one. Keith, that was about a year ago now. Do you remember anything else?"

Keith blinked, confused. "I just got back to Arus with Black. Black was completely drained of power. You broke your arm?" He reached up, touched the back of his head. "I apparently got a haircut…"

Lance sighed, but nodded. "Yeah, Doc Gorma was worried that you'd have some memory loss. And if you can't remember anything after that…Damn." He ran his left hand through his hair, causing his wedding ring to sparkle.

Keith caught the sparkle off his hand. "You're married?"

Lance looked at his ring, chuckled and nodded. "Yeah. You were my best man."

"Who did you…"

"Allura," Lance answered.

Keith sat there, staring in shock.

Lance grimaced. "Look, you were cool with it. But, that's all missing now from your head." He waved towards Keith's Voltcom, which was sitting on a charger beside him. "You recorded some memories and Pidge loaded them into that. If you're up to it, you can start looking at them while I go let Gorma know you're awake." _And I'll forewarn Allura and Vessa that he's lost a year of his memory. This isn't good._

Keith nodded and picked up his Voltcom, slipping it onto his wrist. He flipped it over and saw the empty key slot. "Where's Black's key?" he asked, looking up at Lance.

"It's safe, Keith. You turned it over to…well, you wouldn't remember her, either. But, trust me, Black's key is safe and in good wrists," Lance assured him. He waved at his Voltcom. "Start watching your letters to yourself. I'll be right back." He stepped out of the room.

Keith stared at the empty doorway for a few moments, then activated his Voltcom and started watching his messages to himself, which included a video of him turning Black's key and control of the team over to a beautiful woman wearing a crown. "I don't remember any of this," he whispered. "What happened to me?"

* * *

Duvessa sprinted to MedTech, Allura beside her. They both felt refreshed after their showers and Lance had paged them, wanting to talk to them in the waiting room. She was hoping for good news.

Lance was pacing in the waiting room, which brought Duvessa to a quick stop, especially the worried look on his face.

Allura saw it, too. "How much of his memory is gone?" she asked softly.

Lance looked over at them as he stopped pacing. "He remembers bringing Black back from Wade. Remembers me breaking my arm during that robeast fight and getting a haircut, but after that? Nothing."

Duvessa's eyes closed, pain lancing her heart. "He has no memory of me at all, then."

Lance frowned and nodded. "I'm afraid so, Vessa."

She swallowed hard, but nodded. "It's all right. We all knew it was a risk," she whispered.

Allura moved to her, hugging her. "No, it's not all right, Vessa. If Maahox and Lotor hadn't given him that virus, the two of you would be making plans for your wedding," she whispered.

Duvessa nodded, tears in her eyes. "I know. Just…it hurts. I hope this is only a minor setback," she agreed.

Allura pulled back from her, tears in her emerald eyes. She nodded. "I hope that, too. Shall we go see him?"

Duvessa looked towards the waiting nurse. "You two go in first. I'll wait in the doorway. If he doesn't recognize me, I'll go."

"It shouldn't be like that," Lance stated.

"Shouldn't, but I don't want to make things uncomfortable for him," she answered.

Lance frowned as he looked to Allura.

Allura nodded slowly. "Putting him into distress without his memory would be bad for all of us," she agreed. "While, I will admit, I don't like the idea, it could be for the best. At least until he gets some of his memory back."

Lance nodded back. "All right. I don't like it, but…yeah. Come on, Doc Gorma should be done looking him over by now," he stated and led them towards the nurse and Keith's room.

Duvessa and Allura followed.


End file.
